1950년대 한국 신문의 제도화와 남성적 재공간화 과정 = (The)institutionalization of Korean newspapers and its male genderedness in the 1950s

목차 (Table of Contents)

• This study focuses the male-centric and patriarchal representation of women in the Korean press during the nineteen-fifties. Although there have been many studies based on feminism, their primary concern has been limited to looking at the content of the press which is the end outcome resulting from journalistic activities. Considering the persistent criticism on the content does not seem to change the male-centric view on women in the press, this study now turns attention to the origin of the male-centric representation which may reside in the press organizations and institutions. The recognition of this problem has led this study to survey previous feminism-oriented studies about the press. Although a few existing studies examined the male-centric mechanism immanent in the press organizations, they have tended to neglect to look at the historical formation of male-centrism in the press; that is, how the male-centric identity and mechanism have been constructed in the historical contexts.
• In this sense, this study attempted to explore the process that the South Korean press had obtained the male-centric identity, specifically in the nineteen-fifties. During this period, the South Korean press had been newly systematized and institutionalized in accordance with the global changes occurred in the Korean society. Nevertheless, there has been comparatively less consideration on this period than on other periods, such as the eras of Japan''s colonial rule, the U.S military administration, and the former President Park, Chung-hee government. Although the institutionalization of the press was actually Americanization, Korean journalists voluntarily accepted the change because they believe that it would help the Korean press to emerge from backwardness and enter upon a modern phase. Since the nineteen-fifties was a historical sphere where traditional costumes and new practices dynamically collided, conflicted and negotiated, it deserves more attention.
• The aid from the U.S. in the nineteen-fifties was also given to the newspaperdom: American government selected the Korean young elite journalists who were qualified with modern educational background and English language ability, and provided them with the chances to inspect the newspaperdom in the United States and to take training in it. The U. S. Information Service offered the training program to the Korean journalists as a part of ''the exchange education policy.'' Ironically, however, it was in fact the strategy for persuading Korean public opinion leaders to join the amicable standpoint on the United States. With the young elite journalists trained in the U.S. in the fifties as the central figures, the Korean newspaperdom was newly institutionalized. Their efforts accomplished some changes such as the emergence of new media organizations, the systematization of the press ethics, the alteration of report style, and the advent of professionalism. They also emphasized the importance of fairness and objectivity of reporting news.
• On the other hand, this study found that there were two competing discourses among Korean journalists in the nineteen fifties. One was the dominant discourse which emphasized the values of morality and patriotism and the other was a rising discourse which demanded the advancement of the press by adopting new values and practices from a group of developed countries. Although these two discourses seemingly oppose each other, this study using the perspective of gender history revealed that both of them contributed substantially to shaping the male-dominant structure of the press. In addition to the commonality between them, there was a difference in how they represent the ideal type of a man. While the discourse emphasizing the moral and patriotic press created a Confucian male-dominant space, the discourse advocating the westernized and modernized press produced the modernized male-oriented space.
• The Confucian masculinity, which was shown in the moral and patriotic press, tended to accentuate justice, prestige and dignity as high-priority journalistic values. It equated the journalists who lost these values with a man of virtue who lost his integrity. What was called ''the journalist spirit'' went so far as to argue that newspaper companies should accept even a deficit operation in order to stand against social injustice and unjust dictatorship. This kind of discourse interpellated the press as a patriarchal and patriotic subject, and endowed Confucian and male identity to it. The patriotism also constructed the newspaper as a political subject, which resulted in Confucian male-centric journalism in South Korea.
• As a consequence, in the latter half of the fifties, young elite journalists who experience westernized education criticized political sensationalism and attempted to reform the traditional and old-fashioned press systems. They established professional ethics, suggested the concrete plans to strengthen professionalism, settled the general principles, and proposed new styles of news reporting. More importantly, they went forth into a political subject to actualize democracy by raising their voice for the freedom of the press in the background of American liberal democracy. In these contexts, objectivism, impartiality and fairness of journalism were promoted as a public strategy to actualize democracy. However, this progression is focused on the male journalists, which resulted in adjustment of the press to male-dominant sphere. The process of making male-dominant sphere in the Korean press in the nineteen-fifties systematically excluded female experience and femininity.